Microsoft Points may become a thing of the past if a report from Inside Mobile Apps turns out to be true. The website claims a knowledgeable source has informed them Microsoft will phase out Microsoft Points by the end of 2012. Microsoft will allegedly start honoring exact monetary amounts based where transactions originate. In other words, we won’t have to buy more Microsoft Points than we actually need before purchasing content

This new mandate will allegedly extend to the Xbox Live, Zune and Windows Phone marketplaces. Developers of mobile apps have also supposedly been told to plan the pricing for their downloadable content based on real money and not Microsoft Points.

As for customers, any remaining Microsoft Points may be converted into real money once the change occurs.

I hope this turns out to be true. The concept of Microsoft Points was always silly to me and just a way for Microsoft to get more money out of people.